Motrix
A modern, full-featured download manager that stays simple to use
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Overview
Motrix is a clean, full-featured desktop download manager for HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, magnet links, and more.
Motrix Turbo is Motrix v2, rebuilt from the ground up with Electron, React, and TypeScript while keeping the clean, straightforward experience of v1. The download core is independent of the UI. Browser extensions and command-line tools communicate with the app over MDXP (Motrix Download eXchange Protocol), an open protocol built on JSON-RPC 2.0, while plugins run in isolated sandboxes.
The same core powers two ways to run Motrix:
- Desktop app: Runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux
- Headless server: Runs without a desktop environment, either directly on Node.js or in Docker, and includes a web UI for NAS devices and home servers
🧪 Beta testing
Motrix Turbo v2 is currently in beta. After its remaining release gates pass, download v2.0.0-beta.49 from GitHub Releases and read the full release notes before installing it.
Back up your existing Motrix data and downloads before testing. The desktop Migration Assistant imports selected v1 tasks as paused records and preserves the original files. Resuming downloads requires a separate explicit action; legacy progress import is unavailable on Windows. Keep a backup of the v1 profile and the engine's pre-upgrade database snapshot. When practical, test v2 in parallel using a separate OS account, machine, or Docker data directory.
Screenshots
Dashboard
Downloads
Settings
✨ Features
- 🕹 Clean, intuitive interface with dark mode
- 🦄 BitTorrent downloads with per-file selection, plus magnet link support
- 📡 Built-in tracker list management with automatic updates and health checks
- 🔌 UPnP and NAT-PMP port mapping
- 🚥 Upload and download limits with multiple speed-limit profiles
- 💾 SQLite-backed sessions that restore downloads after a restart
- 📊 Customizable Dashboard with transfer stats, live activity, and task tiles
- 🔔 System notifications when downloads finish, plus an in-app notification center
- 🧩 QuickJS-based plugin sandboxing, fine-grained permissions, and an in-app marketplace
- 🌐 Motrix Extension for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox hands browser downloads off to Motrix in one click
- ⌨️ Official
@motrix/cliclient for everyday shell use and AI agents - 🐳 Docker-ready headless server with secure device-code pairing for remote CLI and agent clients
- 🎬 Extensible URL Resolver plugins for extracting media from supported sites
- 🤖 System tray integration and launch at startup
- 🌍 Simplified Chinese and English UI, with more languages planned
- 🔗 Handlers for
motrix://andmagnet:links, plus.torrentfile associations
🧩 Ecosystem
Motrix extends beyond the desktop app with a shared protocol library, command-line client, browser extensions, and a complete plugin toolchain:
| Project | Distribution | What it does |
|---|---|---|
@motrix/mdxp |
npm package | Defines the shared JSON-RPC 2.0 wire schemas and Zod types for MDXP, with helpers for bidirectional connections |
@motrix/cli |
npm package | Provides the motrix command, automatically discovers a local desktop app, and pairs with remote instances |
| Motrix Extension | Browser extension | Intercepts downloads in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox (Manifest V3), hands them off to Motrix, and pairs securely with the desktop app over native messaging |
| Motrix Plugin SDK | Four npm packages | Includes @motrix/plugin-manifest-schema, @motrix/plugin-api, @motrix/plugin-cli, and create-motrix-plugin for developing, testing, and packaging plugins |
| Builtin Plugins | Signed .moext packages |
Includes three official plugins: Filename Template for renaming files from a template before they are saved, Page Scraper for extracting direct file links from HTML pages, and URL Resolver as the foundation for site-specific media resolution |
| Plugin Registry | Public JSON feed | Publishes plugin listings and install metadata at dl.motrix.app/registry/plugins.json for both the website and the in-app marketplace |
CLI quick start
npm install -g @motrix/cli # Requires Node.js 22 or later
motrix add https://example.com/file.iso --save-dir ~/Downloads
motrix list # List downloads
motrix watch --stats # Stream live progress as NDJSON
motrix pair --name my-nas # Pair with a remote or headless instanceBuild a plugin
The Motrix Plugin SDK provides the TypeScript API, manifest schema, project scaffolder, and CLI used throughout the plugin development workflow:
pnpm create motrix-plugin my-plugin
cd my-plugin && pnpm install
pnpm dev # Watch-build and launch Motrix with the plugin
pnpm exec motrix-plugin validate # Validate motrix-plugin.json
pnpm run pack # Create dist/<id>-<version>.moext
pnpm exec motrix-plugin lint # Check the packed bundleThe default scaffold starts with a beforeCreate URL resolver. Pass post-action after the project name to start with an afterComplete notification plugin instead. Plugins can hook into beforeCreate, beforeFinalize, afterComplete, and onError, contribute callable commands and settings, and access the runtime through the motrix:plugin-api virtual module.
Plugins are bundled as a single ES2020 module and run inside a QuickJS sandbox without Node.js APIs or direct file and network access. Declare activation events, required capabilities, and URL-scoped host permissions in motrix-plugin.json; Motrix shows those requests to the user before granting access. See the Plugin SDK documentation for templates, the manifest and runtime API references, localization, sandbox constraints, packaging, and distribution.
Browser extension
Motrix Extension is available from the official browser stores for use with Motrix 2:
For installation and pairing, see the browser extension guide. Development builds remain available from the extension repository.
📦 Installation
Desktop app
Download Motrix from motrix.app and choose the package for your operating system. Most Mac users should choose the Apple Silicon build; Intel builds are available for older Macs with Intel processors.
After the remaining release gates pass, the current beta desktop packages
will be distributed through the GitHub prerelease linked above. The protected
release tag also publishes verified Snap builds to latest/edge. Choose the
package that matches your operating system and architecture:
| Platform | Architectures | Packages / channel | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS 13+ | arm64 (Apple Silicon), x64 (Intel) |
.dmg / .zip |
Use the .dmg matching your Mac; choose x64 only for an Intel-based Mac |
| Windows | x64 |
.exe (NSIS installer) / .zip |
Use the .exe installer for a normal installation or .zip for a manually extracted copy |
| Linux | x64, arm64 |
.AppImage / .deb / .rpm |
Use the portable .AppImage on any distribution, .deb on Debian or Ubuntu, or .rpm on Fedora or openSUSE |
| Linux (Snap Store) | amd64, arm64 |
latest/edge |
Install the strictly confined beta with sudo snap install motrix --edge |
| Linux (Flatpak) | x86_64, aarch64 |
.flatpak |
Install a versioned bundle from a release that includes it; see the Flatpak guide |
| Arch Linux / Omarchy | x64, arm64 |
.pacman |
Install the native Arch package with sudo pacman -U ./Motrix-<version>-<arch>.pacman; see the Arch installation guide |
The .AppImage asks on first launch whether to register its desktop entry and
URL-scheme handlers under your user data directory; declining leaves your system
untouched. You can enable or remove this desktop integration at any time from
Settings → Integration.
The Snap Store package is strictly confined. Its approved personal-files
interface permits Motrix to register Native Messaging hosts for supported
browsers; it does not grant general access to files outside the normal Snap
interfaces. Release tags build and validate Flatpak application bundles for
both architectures before publication. Older releases, including beta.39,
contain only the Flatpak Native Host companion. These single-file bundles
require manual upgrades; they do not configure a Motrix update repository.
Windows arm64 and all 32-bit packages are not available.
Windows x64 packages are unsigned and may trigger a Windows SmartScreen
warning.
Command-line client
npm install -g @motrix/cliYou can also install it from Settings → Integration → Command-line tools in the desktop app.
Headless server with Docker
Tagged releases publish a multi-architecture Server image to Docker Hub and
GHCR. Beta releases publish only the immutable version tag and do not update
latest; the included compose.yaml keeps Server state separate from
downloaded resources:
mkdir -p motrix-data downloads
sudo chown 1000:1000 motrix-data downloads
export MOTRIX_IMAGE='docker.io/motrixapp/motrix-server:2.0.0-beta.49'
export MOTRIX_PUBLIC_URL='http://nas.example.lan:8080'
docker compose pull server
docker compose up -d --waitThe runtime is non-root, supports a read-only root filesystem, validates mount
permissions before accepting work, and preserves downloads, sessions, and
installed plugins across container replacement. The standard direct-LAN setup
publishes the Web service on port 8080 and MDXP on port 16801. Set
MOTRIX_PUBLIC_URL to the Web approval URL that remote clients can actually
reach; the Compose files do not substitute a misleading localhost URL.
If the Web approval URL is temporarily unavailable, an SSH operator can list and approve the exact client code without exposing another port:
docker compose exec server motrix-admin pairing pending
docker compose exec server motrix-admin pairing approve ABCD-EFGHRemote CLI and agent clients pair through the device-code flow. Browser
extensions can pair with the headless Server when
MOTRIX_REMOTE_EXTENSION_ENABLED=true and
MOTRIX_REMOTE_EXTENSION_PUBLIC_URL is the WS/WSS address entered in the
Extension. HTTPS remains the default operator requirement. A direct trusted-LAN
HTTP operator additionally requires
MOTRIX_ALLOW_INSECURE_OPERATOR_HTTP=true and produces a startup warning;
never enable it on the Internet or an untrusted LAN. Internet access requires a
TLS reverse proxy and firewall rules around the origin ports. See the
Docker Server deployment guide for ownership setup,
Docker Hub/GHCR image and tag selection, DSM 7 and fnOS installation, ports,
diagnostics, and backup/upgrade instructions.
🛠 Development
Development requires Node.js 22 or later and pnpm. Use the pnpm version specified by the packageManager field in package.json.
git clone https://github.com/agalwood/Motrix.git
cd Motrix
pnpm install # Install dependencies, download aria2 for your platform, and rebuild native modules
pnpm start # Start the Electron app in development mode with Vite HMR in the renderer
pnpm test # Run the Vitest unit tests
pnpm test:e2e # Run the Playwright E2E tests
pnpm run lint # Run Biome checks
pnpm build # Fetch signed built-in plugins, then build the native host and four Vite targetsPreview the in-window application menu on macOS
Windows and Linux render the application menu inside the Motrix window. To preview that chrome while developing on macOS, start the app with the preview flag enabled:
MOTRIX_PREVIEW_MAC_MENU=1 pnpm startThe flag hides the main window's macOS traffic-light buttons, enables the renderer dropdown menu, and shows the custom window controls used on Windows and Linux. Collapse the sidebar in this mode to check the application menu, attached actions, drag region, and caption-control safe areas together. Restart the development process after changing the flag because both Electron and Vite read it at startup.
This mode is intended for layout and command-item debugging. Electron routes macOS role items through AppKit's native menu, so role-backed actions such as Window → Minimize do not behave identically when invoked from the preview dropdown. Validate those native role actions on Windows or Linux.
See the scripts in package.json for the available packaging commands. Platform-specific settings for macOS, Windows, and Linux live in electron-builder.json.
🔧 Tech stack
| Area | Stack |
|---|---|
| Desktop shell | Electron 44 |
| UI | React 19 + Tailwind CSS 4 + shadcn/ui |
| Language | TypeScript in strict mode |
| Build system | Vite 8 with separate main, preload, worker, and renderer targets |
| Validation | Zod 4 for settings, IPC payloads, and wire schemas |
| Download engine | A Motrix-maintained fork of aria2, bundled with the app |
| Persistence | better-sqlite3 for download session storage and recovery |
| Plugin sandbox | quickjs-emscripten |
| Server runtime | Node.js + Fastify + WebSocket |
| Internationalization | i18next + react-i18next |
| Quality tooling | Biome, Vitest, and Playwright |
The codebase has four strict layers. CI enforces the dependency boundaries between them, keeping the core portable and leaving a clear path for a future Rust rewrite:
renderer (React UI)
| IPC via window.motrix
app core (tasks, settings, plugins, bridge)
|
engine adapter
|
aria2 (download engine)
The Electron desktop app and the Node.js headless server share the same core. Platform-specific capabilities such as notifications and secret storage have separate implementations with consistent behavior.
🤝 Contributing
Contributions of code, tests, documentation, translations, issue reports, and design feedback are welcome. Before opening a pull request, read the contribution guidelines for the development workflow, architecture boundaries, implementation standards, and required validation.
All participants must follow the Code of Conduct. Report suspected vulnerabilities privately according to the Security Policy, not through a public issue or discussion.
📜 License
MIT © 2018-present Dr_rOot
See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for third-party license information.
Release packages also include a generated dependency inventory, consolidated license texts, and an SPDX 2.3 SBOM under legal/.
